Pathologies such as aneurysms, parent vessel occlusions, carotid venous fistulas, and arteriovenous malformations may be treated with an embolization device. An aneurysm, for example, is a localized, balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms occur due to a weakened blood vessel wall, and may result from a number of conditions, including a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms may occur in any blood vessel, including in vessels of the brain, heart, thoracic cavity, and abdominal cavity. As an aneurysm increases in size, its risk of rupture also increases. A ruptured aneurysm may lead to a stroke as well as rapid blood loss, which may result in death. More than 6 million people in the United States alone are living with a brain aneurysm. Each year, approximately 30,000 patients in the United States are diagnosed with a ruptured brain aneurysm requiring treatment; without treatment, about 40% of these patients will not survive.
The process of coiling may be used to treat aneurysms. The primary goal of coiling is to prevent rupture in unruptured aneurysms, and to prevent rebleeding in ruptured aneurysms. Coiling functions by packing tiny loops of a material into an aneurysm, effectively isolating the aneurysm from the native blood flow, and promoting thrombosis to close off the aneurysm. Typically, the loops of material are inserted using a catheter, and the insertion is monitored by image guidance, such as fluoroscopic image guidance. A standard coiling procedure is only effective in about one-third of patients who receive it.
A coiling procedure carries the risk of rupturing the very aneurysm it is meant to treat. Due to the stiffness of some common coil materials, such as platinum, the coils may puncture the weakened walls of the aneurysm during insertion, resulting in aneurysm rupture. The stiffness of some coil materials may also prevent the coils from reaching a high packing density, resulting in a semi-packed aneurysm. To remedy this packing issue, some platinum coil devices have employed an expanding hydrophilic coating and a series of arms to further occupy otherwise unfilled voids within the aneurysm. However, this increased packing may result in increased coil insertion difficulty, or even the inability to retract or reposition the coils in the aneurysm. Further, with conventional coiling systems, the user either must make an educated guess as to the length of coil required for a particular procedure, or use multiple coils to fill the aneurysm, which may require multiple loading and deployment processes in a time-sensitive procedure.
Therefore, there exists a need for an embolization device that may be highly flexible to allow it to conform safely to the shape of an aneurysm or vessel, resulting in a reduced risk of aneurysm rupture from the deployment of the device. Such an embolization device may also include a radiological contrast agent to allow for noninvasive monitoring of the device during and following its deployment. Optionally, the device may also include a hydrophilic component, which may allow the device to volumetrically expand beyond its original dimensions to allow for greater packing densities than a device without a hydrophilic component. Further, there exists a need for an embolization device that allows the user to choose a custom device length during the deployment of the device.